This column, from the weekly opinion piece MATTER OF FACT, first appeared on BrooklynReporter.com, the Home Reporter and Spectator dated January 26, 2024
Again, a pedestrian who was simply attempting to cross a southern Brooklyn street was struck and killed by a vehicle. And again, as in the majority of these traffic violence incidents, the driver was making a left turn. And again, as is so often the case in these fatalities, the motorist was driving an oversized vehicle. And again, as we have seen many times before, the vehicle had been cited for speeding an inordinate amount of times prior to it striking and killing a pedestrian.
On the evening of Tuesday, January 16, a woman in her fifties was trying to cross at the intersection of 13th Avenue and Bay Ridge Avenue, just a few blocks from her home, when she was hit by a Dodge Ram pickup truck, where she was then pinned beneath the three-ton vehicle. First responders were able to free Xiaohong Chen, and she was rushed to the hospital, but she succumbed to critical injuries to her head and throughout her body.
The 72-year-old driver remained on the scene and no arrest was made following the fatal crash. A witness told Streetsblog that they saw the driver of the Dodge Ram swerve around a vehicle stopped at a red light on 13th Avenue, and proceed to turn without the right of way, at which point Chen was struck.
The sight of the driver’s personalized license plate, NDRTAKER – as in UNDERTAKER – at the scene of the fatality was disturbing. The realization after looking up the record of that plate, that this vehicle had been ticketed for speeding in school zones 27 times over the past five years, including 7 times in 2023, was even more disturbing.
Data shows that the stretch of 13th Avenue, from 65th Street to 86th Street, saw 15 crashes last year, which injured 15 people. Of those injured, 4 were motorists, 4 were cyclists, and 7 were pedestrians.
Just one block up on 12th Avenue, a stretch that is much quieter than the busy, commercial 13th Avenue corridor, and an area most would assume is safer, there were 16 crashes last year between those same cross streets, though no pedestrians were injured in those. One block in the other direction, along 14th Avenue, the corresponding 21-block stretch saw 28 crashes in 2023, injuring 5 pedestrians.
Data exists that shows where crashes are occurring with greater frequency. Though no road safety improvements will eliminate potential dangers caused by someone making an illegal turn on a red light while passing a stopped vehicle, there are always improvements that can reduce the potential danger for everyone who travels on our streets, whether that is on foot, by bike or in a motor vehicle.
In August of 2021, just a few blocks away at 12th Avenue and 67th Street, 6-year-old Hiromi Tamy was struck and killed while crossing in the crosswalk with her mother, with the walk sign in their favor. Again, the driver was operating an oversized vehicle and was making an illegal turn.
A police investigation concluded that the driver improperly turned, drove in the wrong direction, and failed to yield to pedestrians. That driver was charged with a litany of offenses, including manslaughter.
I have previously written about myriad pieces of legislation, at both the city and state level, that would aim to hold drivers more accountable for how they drive. There are proposals to impose substantive restrictions on motorists who just continue to rack up speeding tickets. For those of us who drive safely, we would be unaffected by any such measures, and we would have some level of comfort in knowing that some of the drivers that make us worry for our safety, either when driving or when getting around on foot, would be held to account for their dangerous choices.
One bill, whose passage is long overdue, is Sammy’s Law. First introduced four years ago, it would finally allow New York City the ability to set its own speed limits. Yes, that’s right? New York City would be able to control their own speed limits, something they are not able to do today. Most city residents are not even aware that is the case and find it hard to fathom that decisions on what our streets’ speed limits are, by law, need to be made in Albany.
City residents-turned-activists, like Amy Cohen, whose late son Sammy Cohen Eckstein is the namesake of the bill, has been advocating for its passage for years. Unfortunately, in previous years, she has received little more than lip service.
However, with the state budget negotiation process beginning, Gov. Hochul has stated she plans to reintroduce Sammy’s Law in her executive budget. There are many things we can be doing to make our streets safer. Passing Sammy’s Law should be the first of many.
